REMEMBERING

We will remember them.

Past Times & Recent Times

PETALS TO PRICKLES

Here's my weekly visit to my blog.  Yes that's my limit now, been spending far too much time on tinternet.  Consequently I apologise if I miss some of your lovely posts and spend less time visiting your blogs.

Now then, most of you know I don't like painting flowers, cos I battle like mad with them.  But just lately I have had a Eureka moment!!!  Yep, been pleased with my blooming battles, get it blooms.
Ha ha.

Well this was going awful, painting away at Churchtown Art Club, that I go to (check out their site on facebook) so took it home and ran it under the tap,  Then put in a wet in wet background and scrunched on some cling film.  Added a few darks and hey presto, a miracle, a decent painting.  So never give up (which is what I would normally have done)  I have called it Dancing Fuschias.

No idea what this flower is, it's like a Rudebekia. Can't spell it.  Saw someone had painted yellow flowers on facebook, and I thought what a cheerful colour, saw masses of these in a magazine so had a bash.  They cheered me up just painting them.

A battle and a half!!!! Brusho Thistle.  I threw everything at this and I considered it a failure, until I posted it on facebook.  Well what was going on?  Either they were all being kind or it actually isn't as bad as I thought.

Now all I ask is you look around at the beautiful flowers around you and think how wonderful nature is.  A miracle around every corner.

BLEEDING POPPY

Not many words today, out of respect for the upcoming Armistace Day.  Here is a painting of the poppies we are wearing if you don't do this where you are.  We give donations to the British Legion (who make them) .

l00 years from the beginning of World War 1 this year.

My version of the poppy

Wouldn't it be lovely if there was peace in this sad old world.

IMAGINARY FLOWER WORKSHOP

Most of you know my battle with 'enjoying' painting flowers.  Well I should have gone on a floral workshop for watercolours, which was unfortunately cancelled!

Undaunted, I set about making myself spend a day doing an imaginary workshop at home.  I looked at books (not copied from them) for inspiration and youtube too.  Here is what happened. I did 4 in a day, which is what I anticipated would have been done on the workshop proper.

First painting I did was tulips. I was winging it here. Got the picture of a tulip from a gardening book. No influence here, just wanted to use a new orange I had (W&N transparent orange).  This was supposed to be very loose but got tighter and tighter and layer over layer.  So, was not happy with this method.  So Polly Birchall wasn't tutoring well in this instance!

I have great respect for an artist, now no longer with us, called Karen Simmons.  I received, on the day of my home self inflicted workshop, the book I had ordered for 1p plus p&p from Amazon. Painting Flowers in Watercolour (brilliant book).   So in tribute to her, I painted in her style, a Dainthus.  She uses what she calls blushes and I love that word, so used delicate pink blushes.  The book ends with a quotation from Marc Chagall - 'Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers - and never succeeding'.

Next a loose painting of Chinese Lanterns.  Influenced by a book by Jean Haines, and using that delicious colour W&N transparent orange.  I love this style of painting, so much harder than it looks, but it seems to be natural to me and this is the way for me to go when painting flowers some of the time.  I like to vary how I paint so sometimes fairly accurate and sometimes a bit crazy.  I had seen her do a demo so was imagining her voice and looking over my shoulder.

And finally, a papaver.  This is influenced by Joanne Boon Thomas, who paints wonderful flowers in watercolour and brusho (a very exciting medium).  This is in watercolour.  I heard her lovely Lancashire accent goading me on to paint this red poppy.

These are all 10 x 16 on Bockingford.  Mostly using big brushes.

I thank the artists indirectly, for passing on their knowledge, be it by book or word of mouth, for helping me to begin enjoying painting flowers.  A miracle in itself.  Phew I thought I would never say that.

Have a lovely week all of you and look at the beautiful flowers out there just a a little bit longer than you normally do, they are all masterpieces.

ACRYLICS WITH RELUCTANCE

Last week we had a kind of workshop at our Art Club.   The tutor just explained the pros and cons of Acrylics and then left out lots of pictures for us to work from.  No demo for those who have never used it, which I thought was a shame. I don't like acrylics and still don't so I just experimented and played, but using them was a change and a challenge, and here is what I did.

I don't do muted colours often, as you can see!  Mostly stippled with a brush for the trees and finger spread the rest of the paint and wet my fingers in water and wiped paint on on the paper. Of course the people were done with a proper brush.

Done conventionally with a brush on paper

Again played around with finger and water, palette knife for steps (actually looks like snow to me) restricted palette.  The sign says the only two food words I know in Spanish - Paella and Helados (Ice cream).  I am so chuffed that this painting, done on a board, has gone to a lovely home, much to my astonishment.(despite the wonky windows)  Thanks Sue!

ROSES GALORE

Right well, I hate painting flowers.  Tried to paint a rose and it was awful.  So decided to master a nice loose rose if it killed me!  Here is my progress.  The way I did it reminded me of when I was at school, cramming just before the exams.

First of all I aplogise for duplicating some of the roses.  I have been trying out collage editing using Picasa and Photoshop.  It's taken that long that I have not bothered checking them!

First of all I sketched some roses to try and understand the form of these beautiful flowers, pencil, elegant finewriter and stabilo water soluble.

Here are several roses.  These are influenced in most part by Jean Haines, Hazel Soan and Janet Whittle.  I am using free paper that I got from an Art Festival (St Cuthberts paper) and have decided I don't like Hot pressed.  Also trying different colours (some not real) therefore trying to add more fun to the exercise.

Now progressing I feel and becoming more experimental.  The real word is winging it!  Most of all the above roses and the other collages are without drawing.  Some painted from roses in the garden.  Middle bottom is a bright brusho painting  which it is in fact quite large and is landscape format, as is the bottom right hand one which is on the impossibly unpredicatable Yupo paper.  Now I was getting to enjoy painting flowers, a feat in itself.

Ah, at last!  I feel I have made progress.  The first is loosely based on a Janet Whittle painting in one of her books and the second is a tribute to my lovely Mum, who loved her garden and her roses.  I picked two different roses from my garden and put them a glass top hat that belonged to her and which I turned upside down and put some fresh water in for the roses.

I actually painted over 40 roses!  I feel all the effort was worthwhile.

A serious post for once.

I wish you all a wonderful rest of the weekend. xx

EASTER CHALLENGE - THE END

Here are the last paintings (bar one which I cannot publish yet) of my Easter Challenge, where I asked you bloggers and fb friends to give me subjects to paint over the Easter Holiday.

Anenome - Ruth H Harris (nervous doing this as she is a beautiful flower painter)

A neighbour asked me to paint her house Carol Hodge, this picture was taken when we had such a long cold white winter

Albert Dock, Liverpooo - Val Downie - She suggested somewhere locally.  I took this picture in the summer. It is right near the Beatles Story exhibition, and the band were singing Beatles songs.  I cropped the painting so the conentration was on the father and son Liverpool Football Club supporters

Lupins - Judith Farnworth - very kind of her seeing as I don't like painting flowers!

Neglected corner - Joanne Boon Thomas - Brush and bleach.  Spot the Easter interlopers

Self Portrait - Laura Moore - rather flattering I think!

Sloth - actually two and the picture is from PMP Clare Smith.  Found this looks rather stripey, perhaps a new rare species of lesser striped sloth.

Thank you all for commenting and following my Challenge.

Now then, have a wonderful weekend (early wishes) but won't be posting for a while as I am burned out painting.

EASTER CHALLENGE PART 3

Here are the latest of my challenges set by you here on my blog and on facebook.  Talk about being taken out of my comfort zone!!!!  

Farm Machinery - Pam Williamson - Didn't enjoy doing this one and thought it was, what I have written in the corner.  Scrap without the 'S'

Icicles - Carol Hodge - A neighbour asked me to paint her house 

This is taken at the Albert Dock in Liverpool - Val Downie - I cropped this one so that your focus is on the Father and Son Liverpool Football supporters

Lupins - Judith Farnworth - you always get one bright spark who challenges you to something you don't like painting (flowers)

Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend folks.  Only a few to post later.

INGRID'S BEAUTIFUL FLOWER

Not very often I feel like painting a flower.  So when I saw this, and Ingrid Ormestad said that I could paint it, I couldn't resist.  Most of you may know I don't like painting flowers.  Well - I enjoyed this one, just a little bit, and it's not too bad.

Thank you http://ingridormestad.blogspot.co.uk. A beautiful artist. Do go to her blog and look at her 30 day challenge paintings especially.

BRUSHO BAGATELLE

While I have been battling away with Abstract I have also been brushoing, if there is such a word.  One quite intricate for me and a flower (yes I said flower me no like painting flowers - oops bad english) and one a challenge which turned out better than I expected.

I painted a Bird of Paradise flower in my A-Z challenge as Xotic flower for 'X' but thought it would make a good brusho painting, because of the vibrant orange.  The bleach wouldn't complete take out the blue, so it has left a lovely texture that was quite by accident!

This is Sharon Whitley's Challenge for February, photograph by Gary Jones
Was going to to it in watercolour, but Brusho called and I listened. Great fun.

Have a lovely week and remember Spring is round the corner for us Northern Hemisphere people.

A to Z CHALLENGE X,Y,Z

Well that time has come, the end of a very enjoyable challenge.  I've painted things I would never dream of, not of my choosing.  Each subject a surprise when I spotted it on tv in alphabetical order.  I have used different colours, techniques, textures, paper and brushes, so an exercise as well as a challenge.

Well here are my final ones, the difficult to spot X,Y and Z, all spotted in the programme 'Country File' which was a look back at earlier programmes.

Think this should be sideways on!!  Anyway, we are in Wales looking at a tiny Exotic Flower.  Bong!!  Brain ticking over, got the 'X' - for Xotic flower.  So here is an xotic flower, the Bird of Paradise.  Bit on the tentative side ha ha

Next one was spotted in the pouring rain, and it's 'Y' for yellow umbrella!  Here I was thinking there is no way I am going to see a Zebra on Country File.

And finally a pair of jeans was spotted, phew. I had found the last letter 'Z' for zip.
What a relief!!!!


Would I do this again - yes!  It was great fun.  But not for a while and only when the fancy takes me.

So a BIG thank you to those of you have have followed along with me.  I can't thank you enough.  Even if just one person had followed, it would have made my day.  But so many comments have been a bonus and have made me smile inside.

I will put them altogether in a collage, for me to see them together and for you too.

Have a lovely week all of you and keep safe.

POPPIES AND REMEMBERENCE DAY

I have posted this poppy before so no comments.  I just wondered why we use poppies at this time of year and found this explanation on BBC page, for anyone interested.  I don't know if any other countries reflect in this way with a flower, although I think that France uses the cornflower, must check up on that one.

We must never forget them .................

Why the Poppy?

The poppy has a long association with Remembrance Day. But how did the distinctive red flower become such a potent symbol of our remembrance of the sacrifices made in past wars?

Scarlet corn poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.

The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in World War One and later conflicts. It was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed Forces, after its formation in 1921.

BRUSHO BASKET CASE!

Yes you heard it officially  from me, I am a big fan now of brusho, but realise that it may not be something I will do a lot of until next summer. I don't know why, but painting with it in the outdoors seems the right thing to do, with all the lovely vibrant flowers in the garden, and the beautiful bright blue sky above me. (they are not all done in the garden I might add)  So, here are some more from this summer.

Also, for a while I will be back be back painting in my first love of  Watercolour (you will find out why in my next post) and later on fancy trying water based oils (it's many a long day since I used oils).  So enjoy seeing this lovely vibrant medium with it's bright summery colours.

Here's an ephalump (my childhood word) first drawn with ink and twig, then paint sprinkled on and then sprayed.  I really didn't do any painting, it painted itself!

Same method as above, but a pencil line first and some wax. But careful painting done to bring out the flower

Here is a more gentle use of brusho, leaving some of the sprinkled texture on and then some exciting spraying and tipping



As we say goodbye to summer and hello autumn with it's lovely rich oranges, gold and rusts perhaps I may squeeze in another outdoors painting, weather permitting

Have a lovely autumn.

BRUSHO CRAZY!!!

Brusho crazy is what I have been this last week.  I have Joanne Boon Thomas's ebook and DVD Brusho Moments, at last. So, armed with my brusho, brushes, bleach and enthusiasm, and fear of a change in the warm weather (I wanted to paint outdoors as I am a very messy painter), I had fun, fun, fun trying out some of the exercises, and then painting without the safety net of the book and DVD.

Exercise mixing the powder in the palette like watercolour.  See how vibrant the colours are. They don't fade like watercolours

This was drawn with a stick and ink and spraying method

Well I am over the moon with this one! Some negative painting here.  This was following a superb red poppy that was demonstrated by Joanne.


Money well spent if you ask me.  I have had a ball.  Got more ideas in my head but need to set up the cold garage, which is away from the house, as a makeshift Brusho studio.  Buy some thermals and fingerless gloves.

RED PERIOD PART 2

Here's the next batch of red challenges that I received, when I was pondering what to paint with my new Daniel Smith Pyrrol Red. I call it my bright red period, as the colour is a really hot red. Semi opaque and very like Cad Red really.  The subjects that people came up with were a real challenge as you will see.  So here are the next few for your perusal and cogitation.

 Red knickers challenged by Beverley Wells (who did a super pair if you check the next but one blog to this)

 Red Poppy also by Beverley Wells, and Carol Hodge.  I think this is the best flower painting I have ever done.  I surprised myself with this one and actually enjoyed painting it too.

 Slightly muted red post box from Carol Hodge.  This is from a photograph of mine from the Lake District.

Red Rose, not my favourite, didn't like painting this at all but here it is for you to see.  Challenge by Ngaire Magalotti from Australia, who thought that the roses in my garden would be lovely to paint at this time of year.

One more batch to bore you with later.

Have I finished my red period you may hopefully ask? Well maybe .......

No comments required, I am just sharing my challenges with you.

Have a red hot weekend everyone.

AMAZING I'VE DONE MORE FLOWERS!

Yes, folks, I've been at it again, more flowers!  Strictly Dancing with flowers again.  I cannot believe it, but I now have been taking photographs of flowers, thinking of dull winter days!  In tribute to Wimbledon, and to quote John McEnroe, 'You cannot be serious?'.  Yes I am!  Here are my two latest very different paintings of the petally, leafy things:-

Painted the background with gay abandon, then thought the flowers were  all to pot, so added ink.  I did NOT like this painting, but so many have on facebook and my teacher too, that I now think perhaps it wasn't too bad after all.  This Strictly Dancing with flowers was perhaps a stop start type of dance, a fandango of a dance. 

Very freely painted Alliums.  Definitely not for framing, just painted for fun.  A bit of an irish jig I think.

HOTEL NOROVIRUS!

Well most of you know by now that I got the delightful (NOT) norovirus while on holiday at a Warners Hotel called Littlecote house. Has a tudor mansion at the side (when you book you think you are staying in it and you are not) which has connections to Jane Seymour, one of Henry VIII's wives (well the original building has been replaced by this tudor one which is apparently haunted - likely story) A couple of mornings before breakfast, while my fitness fanatic of a husband (sick making) was in the gym, I secreted myself in a corner or two, and painted these en plein air sketches, exercising my right hand vigorously. Little knowing that the virus could have been landing on my very lovely sable brush as I wafted it on the paper. 

This was in a little courtyard, where there were various farming implements.

This is the old tudor house which is next door to the hotel

And here is a pot of 'don't know what they are' flowers, that were in the courtyard