The Malthouse: Flora and Fauna Exhibition

It’s nearly here! All my paintings are ready and waiting to be hung next week for my solo show and I have been working on my most challenging scale to date!

After doing my first solo show ‘The Garden’ in December last year I was offered the space of exhibiting in the Malthouse Bar and Kitchen, in Stroud. I felt so honoured as I know some amazing artists have exhibited some stunning work in there before. Because it is such a huge space I also used the opportunity to work on larger canvasses and join them together into triptychs (my studio and my small car size being the only limiting factors) and it has really stretched my technique and ideas to work on such a scale. Above is a photo of me next to the ‘Hydrangea series’ of paintings, in order for you to see how large they are!

The exhibition begins on the 24th April to the 30th June and is open daily according to the Malthouse Bar and Kitchen opening times (10am – 5pm). My private view will be held on Saturday 29th April from 2 – 4pm, and I warmly invite you to come along and see the paintings. My greetings cards will also be available to purchase during the private view.

After working on paintings for ‘The Garden’ exhibition, I felt the need to continue with similar subject matter, but explore the way I responded to my subjects. This has transformed my painting into something more intuitive and almost abstract at times. Here is a snippet of my exhibition notes:

‘I admire the everyday life and the subtle movement in nature. The transformation of a rosebud to its bloom, the shifting light across a leaf or the wilted edge of a flower petal are just some of the aspects I discover and interpret through paint. Each season gives me fresh new material to work with and to inspire me.’

‘The way my eye travels through a subject, or moves around a composition, is also key to these paintings, as there is so much depth and and variety in one view of nature, my eye is often restless with exploring. In these captured moments, by studying closely, nature can be found to express both strength and beauty that is delicate, tender, yet powerful.’

Of course, I included my favourite quote, which I often think about when I am working, as it’s so relevant to what painting should capture: ‘I would like to paint the way a bird sings’ – Claude Monet

Look forward to seeing you on the 29th April – save the date!

The Cotswolds Hare Trail

Here it is folks! I was so delighted to be taking part in this years Cotswold Hare trail, and I had so much fun working on it. This huge 5ft tall hare will be joining many other hares also painted by local artists, schools and groups which will begin a trail around the Cotswolds on the 22nd May. Now the hares have been painted, I am waiting for a sponsor to take up my hare to join up with the trail. Once the trail is ended in September they are auctioned off for their forever homes. Perhaps you’d like one for your garden…

A bit about painting the hare – I designed the hare around the theme of the Cotswold garden. The rambling roses growing up the walls in the summer and the textures and unique colours of Cotswold stone, I felt made a beautiful combination to interpret into the hare. When my sculpture arrived, I also admired the shape and form of the hare, so I wanted the design to compliment the shape.

Different to my usual medium, I painted the hare in acrylic paint. I quite liked the acrylics I used, which were intense in colour and some of the colours had different transparencies, so I had a play in layering up the colours and experimenting with some bold, block colours. I felt the design needed to be bold and dramatic and eye catching. I treated the hare and the surface as if it were a canvas, which was the best approach really! It also needed to be fully weatherproof, so with an exterior gloss paint (I won’t bore with the details!) it is tough and can clearly stand any weather! Above – here it is surviving one of the many snow hits we had from eastern storms. Also looking magnificent…!

Last week, I was proud to see my hare amongst the many others at a special launch event in Northleach. I couldn’t fit all of the hares in one photo there were so many! Not one hare was painted similarly, and all were so unique in their own way, which was amazing to see.

For now, I have waved goodbye to him, and was quite glad to have the space back in my studio, but as soon as I know where he’s off to on the trail I can of course keep you updated!

For more information about the trail visit their website http://www.cotswoldsharetrail.org.uk where you can view all of the hare designs and the artists involved. The hares were also featured in the news recently, here’s a clip from BBC Gloucestershire news https://www.facebook.com/bbcgloucestershire/videos/1608540619195546/

January newsletter

Happy new year to all my friends and followers! Christmas went rather quickly for me, after being busy with my solo exhibition in the Lansdown gallery I was glad to have a bit of a break too. The exhibition went really well, I was delighted to meet all the visitors and I gained some very positive feedback about my work. Several paintings have found new homes, which is always exciting, and has given me more momentum to continue my work. Here are some photos from around the gallery:

Between visitors, I made use of the lovely light in the gallery and worked on a little piece.

For some lucky visitors, free guided tours were given by Nero, who gave me company for one of the days!

All the paintings on display were painted from the garden, or nearby in the village or fields. I really enjoyed displaying my work at the end of the year, I felt my studies from plein air, thoughts in my sketchbooks and looser applications of the paint has culminated into a cohesive and strong portfolio of paintings. Most of the visitors enjoyed my paintings of apples and roses, and these were paintings that came from charcoal drawings in my sketchbook, which gave a sense of drama in their tonal composition, but as I have bonded with my limited palette over the last year I have made steps in using colour more intuitively.

This little painting was done whilst in the gallery, from a photo a few years ago when we had fantastic snow. I had no idea we had snow predicted just a couple of weeks later and it was like Christmas had come early for me, I’ve been out in the snow sketching away and taking heaps of photographs for future use!

This was done with watercolour pencils and snow. It was an Isaac Newton moment, as I was sat under a tree and blobs of snow fell onto my drawing, and hence the snow painting emerged. I had brought my paintbrush and a pot of water with my, but the pure snow made an interesting effect!

In time for Christmas, I completed and framed this gorgeous oil painting, which was commissioned just a month before month before Christmas. The morning light was bold, intense and vibrant. Watching an episode of Countryfile a few weeks ago, I was delighted to see Stroud featured in their episode! They described why Stroud was named the ‘Golden Valley’, because of the particular golden light, which attracts many artists to the area. After doing this painting, I could see why I was so attracted to painting Stroud and the surrounding areas, throughout all seasons of the year, on a good day the light is captivating.

After the success of my first solo show, I am delighted to announce that I will be exhibiting (solo!) again at the Malthouse, Stroud, from the 17th April to the 18th June as part of the Stroud Sit Select Festival. The title of my show will be ‘Flora and Fauna’ and expect to see more bigger paintings, and look out for me in their catalogue…watch this space!

The Garden Exhibition – next week!

Just a little reminder blog post that my exhibition is just around the corner…yes, it begins Monday! I am open from Monday 27th – Sunday Dec 3rd from 10am to 4.30pm. I am also open for two evenings, the first being the private view on Monday from 7-9pm, and the second for the Stroud Goodwill evening on Friday 1st Dec 7-9pm. See my earlier post for more info, and I look forward to seeing you there!

Everything is nearly ready…too exciting for words! My greetings cards arrived the other day, in four different designs, and will be available to purchase at my show. Another surprise for the exhibition are my sculptures I have been creating over some time now, exploring woodland settings and creatures in shadow boxes.

As a sneak peek, here’s a detail shot from one of my large paintings on show, titled ‘View from my window.’

Aside from the exhibition, my commitment to the Stroud Valley Artspace life drawing evenings have been great for me to continue my practical drawing skills and observational techniques. Throughout the sessions I use conte crayons on toned paper to evoke a sense of light and depth to the nude model.

Both these drawings are on A3 sized paper, which gives me enough room to explore different marks made by the crayons and to focus on creating a life like drawing under the time constraints. Most of the poses are 15 mins, which puts me on the spot to think quick and to draw accurately. Hopefully after the exhibition I shall experiment with painting the figure, and work these drawings into expressive oil paints, so stay tuned!

Exhibition invitation

Today is the 1st of November, which means it’s 26 days until my opening of my solo show! Here is the leaflet I have been circulating, with all the details. The private view, which you are very welcome to, is on Monday the 27th November from 7-9pm. If you can’t make the private view, don’t worry as I will be there invigilating the show throughout the opening times shown above!

There will be a great range of my recent artworks at the show, all inspired by the garden throughout the seasons. I have long been inspired by artists that study and paint their own gardens, and inspiration is never too far away. Above is a sneak peek of works currently in progress, exploring the shapes and colours of the garden. I’m getting very excited (and a bit nervous!) for the show as the pressure of the show has really made me think about my work and be creative with the project.

Look forward to seeing you there! Until then, I will be madly dashing around my studio with my brushes and paints making sure it will be a beautiful show.

The Travelling Sketchbook

My studio has picked up some momentum throughout August. I’ve been on a few travels, had a few paintings sell online and have made more confident steps with my drawings too.

Just before the summer break I had a go at life drawing with the Stroud Valleys Artspace group. I met a friendly bunch of professional artists that were using the class without a tutor to quietly practice their drawing techniques, experiment with paint and just enjoying being creative. For me, I hadn’t been to a proper life class since University, but I felt encouraged about how quickly I remembered the rules of measuring and focussing on the nature of my medium to express the light and tones of the model. During my degree I found that toned papers were very effective to be used as a mid-tone to begin a drawing. I work by picking out the darkest tone, and the lightest tone and use that as the measured tonal range to express. As you can see in the portrait study, I was interested in how lines were often not needed to depict space, particularly around her right shoulder where it disappears into the background and the light on her nose.

Hands are always the greatest challenge in drawing. I like to keep drawing them as often as I can, getting through lots of bad drawings to train my brain to express what I see and not what I think a hand should look like. My drawing process becomes a way of depicting light and shade on an object, which eventually reveals the form.

I photographed a shot here of my typical pencil case. Before heading out plein air painting, I read a few articles to make the most concise ‘shopping list’ of art materials to take with me. Here is my recommended list of things to take drawing when travelling: A6 Seawhite travel sketchbook, Daler-Rowney Artists sketching tin (as pictured), Art Graf water soluble graphite block, Aquash pen, Range of grade B pencils, Electric eraser, Bulldog clips, Sharpener, Mechanical pencil and Stadtler rubber. I’ve fine tuned my pencil case to this list now, and is convenient for me as it includes a quite concise yet a variety of mediums to get excited by. The Daler-Rowney Set also includes a graphite stick, water soluble graphite, conte pencils, charcoal and chalk.

This was a shot of my sketchbook out and about in the Lake District. Derwent pencils were made from the graphite in these mountains, so it seemed rather fitting to draw my subject with the subject itself! I also drew this with my water soluble block, it handles and responds quite like charcoal, but being water soluble does not smudge or get messy in my book. I recommend this sketchbook too as the paper is quite thick, is does not warp or bubble if I decide to swap to watercolour.

Since I’ve starting doing more drawing work with my collections of natural forms, things found on walks and objects of interest I have a new section of artwork for sale in my Artfinder shop! I now have quite a collection to view and buy online (57 artworks!), you can search by subject and whether the painting is ready to hang. It’s a great gallery to sign up for their newsletters too, and as a featured artist I sometimes get a mention – see their curated collection of luscious landscape paintings! https://www.artfinder.com/editors-picks/dreamy-landscapes/#/ Artfinder also have a daily blog where they share ‘Art of the day’ and so far I’ve had a few mentions, which has led to a few sales..hurrah!

I mostly update my shop every week to fortnight, but if there is something you’ve seen on my website or on Instagram that you like please get in touch! To view my full Artfinder shop visit here: https://www.artfinder.com/georgina-bouzyk#/

I like to choose toned papers, and this is a beautiful one that I bought from an interior shop near Ross on Wye, where they sell handmade sketchbooks and loose sheets of toned paper. This is particularly inspired by the new arrivals of autumnal things I’m gathering in the studio! The willow charcoal I used for this drawing feels so delicate and natural, and it’s a pleasure to create such a drawing as it is to study the subject. For my November solo exhibition (save the date! 27th November exhibition opening, on until Dec 3rd) I am playing with certain words and titles to embody a lot of my interests that painting takes me through. A lot of the subject matter will be from the garden, the shapes of the flowers I have studied, but also the way I notice the variety of the colours and shapes of the garden transitioning through the seasons is a focus of my project. So I am thinking the title will relate to words like ‘transitions,’ ‘shifting light’ or ‘in the garden.’ All will be revealed when I start to distribute posters and create an event for my show, so stay tuned!

This is only a work in progress, on a small panel, but I’d like to mention it as my work is developing and becoming more refined. I’ve loved spending lots of time drawing lately, as I find something rather sensitive about some of the lines I have used, or the tonal contrasts (my sketchbook is peppered with thoughts on recent paintings or drawings, around the odd poem or two) so I’m focusing on my paintings to emulate that in some way. So far I’m working on pre-prepared painted grounds, then working in the lights and shadows. (Quite like the portrait pictured at the top). I’ve recently absorbed a lot of Van Gogh paintings through some old books on my shelf, and they are so inspiring for their use of emotion and observation. There is so much joy in beginning a painting and letting the paint be free!

Thank you for reading my blog, and I leave you with some poetic lines drawn in my sketchbook on the way up to Helvellyn in the Lake District. I could perch on that mountain and endlessly think about painting!

Pintar Rapido London

This weekend I went on an adventure to London to join in with the Pintar Rapido painting competition and exhibition. We had all day of Saturday to venture out into the beautiful area of Chelsea to produce a painting! I made the use of google street view beforehand to save time wandering around with heavy art materials, to choose my spot to paint, which was a good way to get my eye into my subject matter. I found Wellington square, which had elegant Georgian architecture and a central garden with a fountain. It felt important for me to squeeze in some green to represent London, as its such a green city (and a little nod to my love of landscape painting!)


It was a great day for me to focus on my subject, with the time pressure, the thought of a competition and an exhibition following was enough for me! It was so encouraging to hear positive comments on my work throughout the day. Unfortunately the heavens opened by late afternoon so my painting assistant was there with the umbrella for the final touches!

After an exhausting day of painting it was exciting to have the exhibition to look forward to! The works were judged by Adebanji Alade and the editors of Artists and Illustrators magazine, with prizes for both the amateur and professional artists. The winners works were absolutely superb and inspiring, and I felt thrilled to have been part of such a great event! Alade encouraged the importance of sketching and painting from life, particularly as he himself is an artist who has won the Pintar prize before and his work is inspired from life. At the beginning of the prize giving, he said that all the artists exhibiting must continue drawing, painting and ‘keeping that paintbrush wet,’ because art must be practised and exercised. I certainly agree with him, if I spend too much time away from my brushes or pencils, I quickly feel frustrated or out of practice!

I’m delighted to have sold my painting of Wellington square during the exhibition, it has given me great encouragement and I’m thrilled that it will be enjoyed and loved in its new home! My Sunday afternoon was throughly uplifted and I strolled through the Victoria and Albert museum soaking up some of John Constable’s oil sketches of clouds and landscapes.

Summer work

Since open studios I've had plenty of time to focus on my work without the pressure of an exhibition! I also made it to Rhossili when I was in Wales recently, and was very inspired to paint the delicate hues of the sea.

Painting outdoors has been great for me to put a lot of technique and observation into my practice. The sunlight does shift and change throughout my sessions, which I initially found quite a pain, but through some determination and battles with the great British weather, I've got rather fond of it! This painting below was achieved by going back to the same place at the same time of day. (I did two sessions of this painting so far, painted between 11am and 1pm). I was very focussed on getting the right tone and colour of the rooftops, experimenting with architecture in the landscape, in preparation for the 'Pintar Rapido' competition in London. I will have Saturday the 29th July from 9-5 to create a painting, which will displayed for an exhibition on the Sunday from 11am in Chelsea Old town hall. I've not done it before and imagine it to be quite a big competition, but I like a challenge and meeting lots of artists! Canvasses are stretched, primed, and frame has arrived so only the day needs to arrive…

Sometimes the subject matter I choose often feels very eclectic, and recently I've been writing in my sketchbooks what I've been trying to achieve, understand or investigate. Flicking through Instagram one morning I found a quote by Francis Bacon, where he states 'the job of the painter is to deepen the mystery.' I can sit and think about those words a lot of the time, which is why I like them. Painting is certainly an emotional experience for me, both to capture the expression of the subject and complicate it with my own emotions. Painting is a mysterious entanglement of intense observation soaking in visual information and conveying it backwards onto a surface. The artist mirrors the world to an extent, through a complex and interesting surface of their personality. Sometimes the weight of pressure I give myself to produce something ideally beautiful makes me stop and think at the canvas sometimes too often. I often just paint scenes from everyday life to keep me painting, to keep my practice moving and interesting.

Actually, despite all the conceptual side I have buzzing in my head, wandering around the garden has been my main interest. I've seen so many changes, colours and shapes I am in fact full to the brim with ideas, just not enough canvasses and space! This painting above, was inspired by the evening colours and light upon the roses. I left many of the shapes and details left loose and expressive, as I notice more and more that paint often naturally speaks for the subject untouched. I now find some of my portfolio of work since leaving University has moments of coherence, so I expand and develop my work using the brush marks I liked on a previous piece. This painting of roses has left me interested in more shapes and colours around the garden, particularly shadows. It has been a bright and sunny day today so I've been drawing around shadow shapes, making some interesting patterns.

Another shadow study, painted outdoors.

The cows were initially very polite when I started painting on location here, but actually became rather too friendly and started nibbling at my canvasses and painting box! Artists quality indeed!

Something I hadn't done in quite a while, was life drawing, so I was quite keen to give it a go after so many years. Fortunately the techniques and hand eye coordination hadn't all been quite lost! (And hopefully aided by painting outdoors) Working on toned paper is my preferred way to draw during a life class, as it helps to express the mid tones without too much effort and wasted scribbling. These were conte crayons on a pad of earthy toned papers that I bought in Pegasus art supplies (an excellent art shop to use, even if you're not nearby they do deliver). Conte crayons are notoriously difficult because they can be unforgivingly hard and reluctant to be rubbed out, but if you apply delicate pressure they achieve similar effects to charcoal.

These two -unusual- paintings were a commission I have been working on for quite a while. I was given the topic of 'cells and dna' and given the opportunity to produce two paintings that will be going to the new office buildings of Akesogen in Atlanta, which has been super exciting! They are a biotechnology company who provide research services in genomic data – really interesting, and quite a hot topic in science, and their research has been featured in National Geographic magazine. My biology knowledge only extends to GCSE…My science interests were mostly in physics and astronomy, which I took to A level! So I began looking at images of plant cells under the microscope, bizarre images of different cells clustered together and came up with two abstracts. One of my artists friends said he was often irritated by the people who claim that abstract art is 'easy' and 'so relaxing..!' I almost want to agree with him, as the amount of thought, layers, re-thinking, second opinions and colour choices that went into this was tremendous! I began with a simple sketch and one black and white electron microscope photo, but that was it. Exploring these abstract shapes really opened up another part of my brain and got me focussed on the canvas. These are only photos of the pieces taken in my studio, but now they've arrived in Atlanta I'll be looking forward to some images of the works in situ.

One more thing I must mention, is that I will be doing a solo show of my work at the end of this year..! Save the dates Monday 27th to the 3rd of December, with a private view evening of the 27th, because you're very welcome! It will be at Lansdown gallery, Stroud, and will roughly hang about 20 paintings, so I envision a lot of work and thought to be going into it.

June

I’ve been busy with a number of things this last month, particularly with balancing my studio life with getting my artwork out there into new exhibitions and opportunities. Luckily, this month has been a success for me getting my work into a few places!

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Firstly, I must mention my new easel. I absolutely love it.  I bought it on eBay for £37 and I should have invested in one much earlier! Previously I used a box easel or a sketch easel for plein air painting, but my box easel didn’t have legs, and the sketch easel blew over with even the most gentle gust of wind! I’d read various articles on how to make your own plein air easel from a pochade box and a camera tripod, which would actually be quite light and transportable, but this easel has lots of storage space, including a palette, and a pull out drawer.

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On a sunny afternoon I spent the afternoon testing out my new equipment painting in the fields I take regular walks through, and came out with an expressive little painting that really captured the atmosphere and spirit of painting outdoors. After applying for the ‘Fresh Paint’ competition in Pembrokeshire, I was delighted to hear that it had made the first round of judging and was selected for the exhibition! The exhibition is open to the public from the 1st-29th July and you can find more details about it here: http://www.pictoncastle.co.uk/fresh-paint-painting-competition-selling-exhibition

Picton Castle is a beautiful place to make a visit to, with huge gardens and stately rooms, and they have recently started art classes and workshops in the studio, so worth a visit!

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I’ve also taken the advantage of painting in the garden, and the Irises were particularly amazing for about a couple of weeks. This was an afternoon study that I later finished off in the studio, which was also selected for the ‘Passion’ group exhibition at the Old passage, Arlingham. There are 34 artists contributing in this exhibition, and there are some wonderfully varied and expressive responses to the theme of ‘Passion.’ You can view the event here: http://www.theoldpassage.com/art.events.html which will also bring you to an online catalogue of the exhibiting artists here: http://www.theoldpassage.com/art.events.html

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I was recently offered the opportunity to exhibit again at the GP surgeries of Trellech and St. Briavels, in the Wye Valley. I did this a number of years ago with some of my A level and Foundation work, and since the organiser loved my work asked me back since I had finished my degree. So all my work from Open studios has made it there (some 20 odd paintings) – giving me some much needed studio space- and its great to have my work seen there again! Hanging my work there reminded me of how much my style has changed, but how I also kept an innate feeling for the landscape and a freedom of paint that is inherent to my technique. To make a return to certain subject matter or compositions, is often important to push the boundaries of interpreting subject matter and to explore the nature of the paint upon repetition.

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This is another large roses painting that I spent quite some time working on, in-between the two large commissions I am producing to be shipped to America. I was playing between the background and the object, and until I had completed it, realised that it related quite well to my paintings of fragments and collected things. I’m also digesting the visual information taken in from my visit to Rome, particularly the fragments of murals and the spaces between form and detail. I always feel there is an abstract connection in my work sometimes, and this often just comes out of intuition. I favour a feeling of freedom and expression in paint, and letting the medium do a lot of speaking for itself.

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Drawing and painting outdoors for a portion of my time these days does make me notice and influence the atmosphere and weather into my work. This month I am doing 10,000 steps a day for Cancer Research, and this is quite a challenge! I am often out walking the dogs anyway, but this challenge requires me to walk nearly 8km a day, so I have been pushing myself to venture out beyond my usual fields and I’ve taken to walking the canal towpath. There is a huge diversity of life, nature, flowers and landscape on this simple walk. I’ve been out and about in all weather conditions, and this is my little study I made from memory after coming back from a walk absolutely drenched. I painted out my frustrations with this little study, and let the oil paint drip, run, spill and layer up to evoke the rain and wind. You can visit my fundraising page here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/georgina-bouzyk

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Have a great weekend everybody! Here’s a plein air study from a couple of weeks ago, reminding me of sunnier days. I shall be devoting my weekend to viola practice for the Stroud Symphony Orchestra’s summer concert, this Saturday at 7.30pm, Holy Trinity Church, Stroud. Looking forward to a performing at a great evening of music after lots of hard work!

 

 

Site Festival Artist’s Open studios

Thanks to all my visitors that came over the last two weekends to my open studio. The sunlight was out for most of the two weekends, which was a real blessing! Tea and biscuits in the sunshine, greeting my visitors in a studio crammed full of work…perfect.

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It was great to hear so much positive feedback on my work. Even if you’re visiting an artists studio and never picked up a paintbrush, you can get an idea of how lonely it can be sometimes. There are many ups and downs of working full time at your passion – some days I’ll have painted all day in my studio until the light fades away and the next day I’ll come in and be frustrated with my previous efforts! My paintings are definitely produced with my utmost enthusiasm and energy, but still aiming to capture the immediate energy or response from my subject, right through to the very last layer of paint.

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My bluebells received the most praise during the open studios, and its quite a favourite of mine too! I was focussed on creating the depth and drama of the trees and the bluebells. Building layers of brush marks in a variety of sizes and directions is an effective way to add personality and atmosphere to a painting.

To those who missed the open studios, my exhibition also featured a large oil painting of roses. I’ve been working on another project alongside the landscapes and the collections of objects from my travels and walks, which is of movement in nature. From drawing the outlines of shadows and plotting the tremble of petals in the wind, I found myself drawn to a photograph I’d taken a while back of two roses, one fading away and petals beginning to fall, and the other in rich, luscious bloom.

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I used the interest of movement in these delicate forms to explore that in the movement of my paintbrush. Throughout my degree, I was fascinated by the use of very thin oil paint for its similarity to watercolour. I experimented with building up very delicate layers, with expressive marks, so there was a glimpse of the layer of paint before the next one. There was a lot for my eye to explore in this painting of the roses, from the rich encircling layers of tone in the blooming centre of a rose, to the drifting and fading petals.

I also made a visit to the ‘Fresh Art Fair’ at Cheltenham racecourse this Friday, and it was fantastic! It was great to see such a variety of galleries, and some quite prestigious ones too, altogether in a jam packed venue. I’m definitely inspired to visit more art fairs in the future. Some years ago I made a visit to ‘Art in Action,’ which sadly no longer exists, but it was great as I managed to squeeze in some taster courses pre-booked in advance, including egg tempera painting and Islamic geometry. At the Fresh art fair you could also watch some artist demos and ask a few questions, which was rather exciting.

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Chatting to a few galleries, I felt inspired to pick their brains. What makes a good artist? I asked ‘Beside the Wave’ gallery. What makes a successful, established artist sing out to you? The reply was; An established, successful artist has a strong, personal style that speaks out to you from a distance. Not only does that artist have a clean, distinguishable style, but an ability to adapt and experiment, for example, change their palette of colours, and remain consistent.

Wow. I felt really inspired. I looked again at that artists work on the wall and thought…one day…I’ll be that artist!

May is a fantastic time of year for painting outdoors. By June and July, I get followed by the mosquitoes and the horseflies, and the heat gets a but much painting for long hours outdoors, but May often has a bright sunlight during the day. Being so close to April there is sometimes the unexpected rain cloud or thunderstorm, so I find lots of changeable subject matter to work from. Artists’ weather forecast is looking good!

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I also got asked a few technical painting questions during the open studios, so in response, I might just share a few of my own techniques here on my blog, so stay tuned! Over time I have made my own preferences towards painting supports, mediums, etc, and through experimentation have found things that have worked/not worked. They are of course, personal to the way that I work but I can offer some tried and tested advice on beginning a painting and technical issues with oil painting. Any suggestions on topics would be received and answered with great contemplation!

Thanks for having a read, I’m hoping to update my blog a little more often as I paint more frequently these days as we draw into summer..and the days are longer…hurrah! I’m about to begin two huge canvasses as a commission, which is going all the way to America once completed (exciting). Also, a while ago I had artwork in the Doctors surgeries of St. Briavels and Trellech, which was a great success and they have invited me to exhibit with them again. So in a couple of weeks I shall be hanging quite a bit of work for them. I would love my paintings to find some good homes!

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