'The Secret'

graphite, pastel and gesso on paper

65cm x 45cm

'I look across the space and see 

A whole new world that I could be

a part of...'

I've used the ancient symbolism of the rose in this piece. The rose has been used since ancient times to denote secrecy. In mythology Aphrodite gave a rose to her son Eros as a sign to keep her indiscretions hush hush! I've also attached to the drawing another line from my poem. 

'The Birth of Ophelia'

'The Birth of Ophelia'

60cm x 1200cm (24" x 48")

gesso, charcoal and pastel on board 

This last piece, which I am pleased to tell you is now complete... :) has been influenced by Sir John Everett Millais' 'Ophelia'. The painting by Millais depicts a scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet in which Ophelia's father is murdered by her lover Hamlet and as a result Ophelia drowns herself in a stream. My Ophelia on the other hand, is in the process of rebirth! She represents the feminine and creative aspects of water in the way that for aeons water has been equated with the feminine aspects of creation and nature. There is a common and recurring image in many cultures, that of the Goddess emerging from the water. So here, my Ophelia is emerging from the water only to be reborn as a Goddess..don't you just prefer happy endings!...:)

Paintings with cherries!

'Jug with Lemons and Cherries'

12" x 16"

oil on stretched canvas

This afternoon I've been busy adding cherries to these three paintings! Have a look and see what you think. In the painting above 'Jug with Lemons and Cherries' I'm happy that the composition is now complete both in terms of space and of colour.  

'Green Apple with Jug'

6" x 6"

oil on  board

In 'Green Apple with Jug' the cherry becomes a compelling focal point. And along with the two red leaves, it creates a triangle in space which again leads to a stronger composition. 

'Delicious Biscotti'

8" x 8"

oil on board

Before I added the cherries to 'Delicious Biscotti',  the biscotti looked a little lonely and were crying out for something to sit next to them! However, now I'm glad to say, all is well, and again I feel the composition is complete. 

'Young Amaryllis, Brass Pot and Radish'

'Young Amaryllis'

12" x 8"

oil on board

Click to bid

I don't know whether you know about the growth cycle of an Amaryllis but once you get them out of their little box and start watering them they're away! Their growth is that rapid you can literally watch them grow! I started this painting Saturday and by the time I had finished it on Sunday, the leaves had grown right off the canvas! I found balancing the two contrasting greens interesting...the organic green of the plant against the synthetic green of the pot. It gave me an opportunity to check out my very old tube of emerald green which has rarely seen the light of day (I'm not a fan of tube green as my class members will be very quick to tell you). But I am pleased to say that I found the paint to be still usable and...a perfect base colour for the green of the pot. In its defence, tube green does have its place but should, in my view, only ever be used within a mix and never straight from the tube.  

'Poinsettia'

'Poinsettia'

10" x 12"

oil on board

Click to bid

In celebration of Christmas I have painted my Poinsettia. It feels almost indulgent painting such wonderfully rich crimsons and cadmiums and so beautifully accentuated by the deep complimentary greens...a vibrant contrast and a perfect combination! I scaled up a little for this painting so that I could portray the leaves life-size. 
It's a busy busy week but I won't be hanging up my brushes until Thursday evening, then I will have to get down to the Christmas prep! 

Green Apple with Jug...and Poinsettia!

'Green Apple with Jug'

6" x 6"

oil on board

Click to buy

Today I made a little alteration to this painting and added some leaves of a Poinsettia. I kept noticing the empty space above the jug and felt that there was something missing in the painting. I adore Poinsettias for their colour...and the magical touch of its red brings the painting alive. 

Potted Plant

'Potted Plant'

8" x 8"

oil on board

Click to buy

I've included glimpses of this plant and its pot in previous paintings so today I thought I'd paint all of it and let you see the whole thing as the colour of the flower is such a wonderful muted pink.  I've been busy teaching this week, my regular Wednesday class, a life drawing workshop and a class with the ladies and gents at Knaith Park. Everyone has worked really hard and there's been some great outcomes! So well done to all of you.

'Days after the Wedding'

'Days after the Wedding'

oil on stretched canvas

40cm x 30cm

SOLD

I haven't been able to blog for the last few days as I've been catching up on 'stuff'. You know the kind of thing...emails, paperwork, exhibition preparations, preparing for forthcoming classes etc, etc, etc, and...since being back from Spain, I've attended two weddings, one of which was my son Charlie's...and what a brilliant day it was!! We were fortunate enough to be able to bring home some of the wonderful flowers which of course after a few days slowly began to show signs of wilting...very sad (but at the same time interesting to paint!) So I decided it was time to paint some of them to keep alive the memory of the occasion before they faded away forever :( 

New arrival!

'Blue Glass with Red Flowers'

oil on board

6" x 6"

This beautiful little vase just had to be painted! It's a new arrival in our house and when I saw it I was wowed by the intensity of the blue. In actual fact I think it is a perfume bottle, but for today it became a vase. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't quite capture the exact blue but I did my best with the pigments I had.

Better late than never!

'Begonias and a Hot Cross Bun'

 oil on board

6"x6"

I'm a bit late in posting today as I've been teaching all day. I held my regular weekly class this morning. The class were collaging a self-portrait and I must say, although they began with reservations about the whole collaging thing they achieved some brilliant outcomes! And with the Life Drawing workshop this afternoon it means that there was no time today to get paint on canvas! So I decided to post 'one that I did earlier'! It's a painting that I did last week. I kept the hot cross bun all the way from Easter with the intention of painting it. Needless to say, I couldn't eat it when I'd finished the painting because, as you can imagine, it was just a little stale!! 

Post No.2!!

'Springtime in a Pot'
 oil on board
8"x8"

SOLD

Phew! I've managed another post! So I think I'm up and running now! 

I've linked the blog to the website 'Daily Paintworks' on which I am putting all my new work for sale. You'll see the link to the site on the right hand side of this page or you can link to it by clicking on 'click here to bid' under the image of the above painting .

The flowers in the painting remind me of the sunshine that we haven't seen much of lately! So I thought I would paint them to brighten up the day! Hope you like them too.