After a lovely summer holidays with my crazy kiddies and a very long and much needed break from social media I have been back to it big time since the school year started. And its felt good! I most definitely needed the rest after a full-on June and July and I loved it all; hanging out with my kids, no alarms, slower paced, days with no plans…..bliss! But, then you cant outrun normality for long and that is what makes these moments precious right?
Despite not wanting to even mention the ‘S’ word (school) it arrived and we all got back into the very new school routine where all three of my babies were attending secondary school; there were no drop offs or pick ups, meeting their new teachers for the first time…So, after 10 years I also now have a new ‘normal’……and more time to work with less of a juggle!
This summer I have definitely felt a shift in our home where the kids are much more independent and need less logistically. This has meant I have been able to dip into work, albeit from the dining table and not the studio, but I’ll take that! I actually really enjoyed working within the home with the kids milling around or playing in the garden, there was no progress photos or instagram stories to post, I just loved creating. And I made more progress than I thought I would!
I completed ‘Cascade of Brilliance’ just before the summer holidays and I really do love this piece! It’s big, it shimmers and it has so much detail in the layered feathers…and then there’s the frame! I continued the tumble of feathers onto the frame which I painted in a popping pink - yum!!! I wasn’t sure how it would work, but it was a success! Yay!!!
I have big plans for it! It’s already been professionally photographed and I’m thinking of archival prints and possibly a canvas print where I would paint a bespoke frame. The canvas prints would need to be pre-ordered due to the expense and work involved but I am very excited about the potential.
I also have another peacock painted and ready for its detail, this time it’s a silvery white so this might become a bit of a series….we will see!!!!
I made sure before the summer holidays began I had planned several new pieces of work in my sketchbook, drew them out and applied the watercolour to the panels so that they were ready for the pen detail. I find the pen detail much easier to dip into (excuse the pun!) for short periods which is perfect for when the kiddies are home in the school holidays. One of these pieces was ‘Blooms of Life’.
This piece is smaller than my usual bigger panels so its is perfect for smaller wall spaces and budgets. I want my work to be accessible to all and felt that I previously had either really large or really small pieces and this one is a great middle option.
I’m not sure if its the composition, the colour palette or the blue frame but it reminds of ‘Autumn Explosion’…..or maybe its the change in weather thats giving me those autumnal feels?!
‘A Bond or Blooms’ was another piece finished over the summer. Although still very much part of the ‘Flowers in a Vase’ series, this piece is in a square frame and I have included a tablecloth. The composition fits perfectly in the square panel and I do feel the gingham pattern on the tablecloth contrasts well with the organic movement of the flowers and leaves. It works and its a lovely summery piece to brighten up any home!
‘The Queen Bee’, ‘Much Loved’, ‘Spring Beauty’, ‘Fragile as a Lady’s Pom’, ‘Triumph of Good over Evil’ and ‘The Smallest Moments’.
The final pieces completed over the summer was a new series of originals on Mini beasts! I wanted this series to be fun, again with bright frames and decided to give the spotlight to those mini beasts that had previously appeared in other original pieces as a supporting act! I also add splattering sprays of champagne gold spray paint to the background which gave a texture and slight shimmer without completely covering the wooden panel background that you know I love and like to leave uncovered. They are mini and striking and would look great individually, in a small cluster or all together!
So, not only have I been busy creating originals, all the new pieces are up on my website; a job I am less keen on doing, but always happy when it’s done! Over the next few weeks my focus will be on getting ready for Landmark Art Fair which I am really looking forward to and where I will be exhibiting my new pieces (sign up to my newsletter on my website for free admission).
I will also be popping along to the Ad Lib Gallery in Wimbledon Village to vivist a piece of my work exhibited in a group show and something I am SO EXCITED about…..drum roll please..….’Cascade of Brilliance’ is being printed on a large poster and displayed in Regents Park Tube Station in October for four weeks!!! I mean, how amazing is that, I am beyond excited. If you do pop along to Regents Park Tube station and see my piece please photograph it, post and tag me! If you are an artist and are interested in taking part it is a collaboration between Art Below and the Ad Lib Gallery who fill the advertising spaces in a couple of Londons tube stations with art! Google it to find out more!
Anway, have a good October and the arrival of autumn - eek! I’ll let you know how all this goes in next months blog!