The Fairy Barge

I have been doing a lot of painting and rather less updating of the blog lately, getting a collection of paintings together for my Ilminster Exhibition – ‘A Westcountry Bestiary’. Another one I finished early this year and have yet to show you is this: “The Fairy Barge”. Don’t ask where this odd little group sprang from, I couldn’t tell you, I simply started off with the idea of a barge (as in a flat-bottomed boat suitable for shallow waterways) travelling along the drainage ditches and rivers of The Levels. Of course they are not usually spotted, because they are…

Two’s Company

One of the first of some silhouette drawings that I have been doing. I have to say that I thought this picture was rather too sweet for me, but when I posted it on my Facebook page it got more likes than anything has for a very long time, so there, maybe I should be sweeter! I’m not going to change though 😉 Personally, I particularly like the dandelions in the grass, being a bit of a fan of dandelions. I cannot currently think of an excellent title for this so it is going by the name of ‘Two’s Company’ unless…

‘Three’s a Crowd’

Finished artwork in pencil and gold leaf. This is a relatively simple piece, expanding on the series of ‘gold fairies’ I have been drawing. I am rather aware that Somerset Arts Weeks is fast approaching, so it is not the time to get started on a long complex piece of work that will not be finished in time. Now, in this lovely summer weather, it seems a good idea to fill gaps in the gallery walls with some simple gilded glamour. Of course, my pictures are never THAT simple, but I am doing my best to get a few new…

Digitalis Purpurea, the Foxglove Fairy – Finished

Finally, photos of the Foxglove Fairy finished! Apologies for not posting these before – I wanted to post some really good images of the painting, having spent three or four weeks on it, and photographs are not nearly so sharp. Not only that, but THAT yellowy colour is just one of those colours that is really hard to get just right in a reproduction, as is the purple. I have done my best and the colours are as close to the original painting as I am going to manage. So here she is: Digitalis Purpurea, the Foxglove Fairy: And a…

Urtica Dioica, Stinging Nettle Fairies – Finished!

The painting of the Stinging Nettle Fairies is finished! Decided in the end not to add any other colours than green, sometimes the trick is knowing where to stop! So this painting is entirely in Prussian Blue (see my post about the blue underpainting for the general idea, and the previous post to this one for early photos of this actual painting), followed by a complete pasting-over with a wash of green (mostly Cobalt Green Light, with a little Indian Yellow mixed in). After that, highlights happened simply by a careful removal of some of the green layer with brushes…

Stinging Nettle Fairies

Ok, I’ll admit it, I did in fact finish the Foxglove Fairy some time ago, but I’ve not yet had time to get her on the scanner, sorry! Meanwhile, another poison flower fairy is in order, since I have an exhibition coming up soon – Ilminster in August – and not much painting time left… All the Laburnums are out in flower at the moment and looking lovely, but I have been reading up on them and it would appear their dreadfull reputation is quite overstated, and perhaps I would only add to the paranoia. It would be a shame…

Trust me, I’m an Artist! (The Foxglove Fairy pat 2)

Back to the Foxglove Fairy from the previous post… Here is the blue underpainting finished. At this point the painting looks fine, and you will think I am ok at painting, but after this everything will go a bit strange for a while as I start to add the colour. Trust me: I’m an artist… On go the first layers of colour. In fact you may not notice the very first colour I added, which was white, where the inside of the foxgloves flowers are spotty. Next I filled in the colours of the fairy. …and the purple and greens…

The 2013 calendar… the final pictures.

Somebody said that I had not actually stated on my website that I have the calendars, here, and ready to sell, which is something of an omission! So, it seems long overdue that I mention them one more time, and I have posted all of the images as they appear in my lovely satin-finish calendars… see below. Meanwhile, I believe I have contacted or attempted to contact everyone who so far said they would like one (or several), but some people are being elusive, so if you’ve not got back to me and confirmed you’d like one, please let me…

The Devil’s in my Baubles!

I said I didn’t have time to do Christmas baubles this year, but they were fun last year and quite popular and it seemed a great shame not to have them, so at the last minute… Here are some of a delivery of around 95 empty baubles, all ready to be ‘done’: The calendars are at the printers, the Christmas card has been painted and has gone the same way, I have completed a commission, and the first 3 etchings of this term are all underway. At this point, even though I’m actually on holiday, I am feeling pretty efficient…

78 Fairies… One calendar.

I have begun planning next year’s calendar. It may not even be July yet, but it occurred to me rather suddenly that in order to have it available for Somerset Arts Weeks in September, I would need to have it all finished and ready to print by the end of August. That’s about two months away… So, apologies to those to whom I said next year’s calendar would be all flower fairies. So far I have three ‘flower fairies gone to seed’, and four ‘poison flower fairies’, (and three ’emergency’ fairies that would fit in at a pinch). If I…