Being the final newsletter of the year, I wish all my followers a happy New Year and hope you all had a great Christmas! This month began with my Open Studios weekend, part of Stroud Valleys Artspace Christmas Open Studios. I was so delighted with the words of encouragement and appreciation of my work and that I had so many visitors for such a quiet little part of the countryside. I will be sure to be doing the Summer Open Studios in the new year. Despite the freezing cold temperatures, I was so lucky to have a dry and sunny weekend, which I needed as my paintings were outside the studio too. A few of my works have now reached their new homes, and to know they are being hung up and enjoyed is such a great feeling.
Above is a pair of small oil paintings that I was commissioned to paint, of course I kept quiet about it as they were Christmas presents, so I can now reveal them! It was a beautiful little cottage tucked away in Nailsworth, with a lovely side garden, and my intention was to capture the charm of the place and the rich colours of the garden. I enjoy taking commission work, as it sometimes throws me out of my comfort zone and offers me a challenge and I always discover a new place or view I become inspired by!
My Christmas card this year for Doc2Docs was my pheasant in the snow watercolour, which has now reached a number of Doctors and surgeries near and far. I am hoping for some snow this winter, so I can study lots of subtle and delicate colours.
Meanwhile, a few of my paintings are still on display at the Old Passage, Arlingham, as part of the group exhibition ‘Between the Light and the Dark’ with a number of Stroud artists. (Above is one of mine included). If you fancy a browse of the online gallery follow this link http://theoldpassage.com/art.events.html where all of the artworks are available to view. The exhibition is on until April/May.
So far the Instagram and Facebook pages are going strong with daily updates from my studio. The past couple of days have been canvas making and postcard painting for charity so if you need to see a messy paintbrush or a work in progress to feel inspired or uplifted then hopefully my pages should do just that for you!
More artworks have been successfully uploaded to newbloodart.com (above are my sycamore leaves). You can now view the paintings with colour backgrounds of your choice (this one is testing the brown colour, not sure I’d have my walls that colour but good for mounting and framing ideas!). I have quite a number of canvasses now that I intend to paint of shells, rockpools and collections from my seaside walks. In the second week of January I will be making my way back to Aberystwyth for a month as I begin an internship with the School of Art as a technician and assistant curator. A return to some seaside subject matter and some sea air in the new year is much needed!
Georgina Bouzyk 