Back home in landscapes

Back in landscapes with the Daily paintings. Feel at home here and for me there is no pressure on painting intuitive landscapes. When I set off, I don't have anything in my mind. It's not like painting a face where clearly it's got to look like a face. Some artists would find a pressure in painting intuitively - we are all different aren't we ?

I have re painted some of my old landscape paintings and loved glazing new colours on. I preferred the last 4 of the week's eight daily paintings and these are ones that I have painted over old paintings.

Figure in landscape

Continuing with figures in landscapes. Feel uncomfortable in this genre but happy to paint over old paintings , including the Daily paintings, to continue to experiment. I think I feel happy that I am re painting Daily paintings that I don't like so that at the end of the year , I have only ones that I like left. It's strange because on different days, I have different opinions on which get the title of , 'painting.'

Anyway I have been looking at the work of Gillian Gustlin and Cathy Hegman. Love their work for different reasons.

I am ok with this one so far. I can accept it for what it is, a half hour painting of a figure in a landscape.

Daily painting 20/9/14.
Colours muted, figure is indistinguishable from the background it is in.Gentle, thoughtful painting. There is no form in the figure but , for me there is a certain charm and a spiritual content,

I covered the sides of the canvas in newspaper. The wood was rough so the newspaper covered it up. I like the newspaper though, it adds something else. It also brings the figures into the mixed media range and then there is not as much pressure really to render an accurate figure because quirky is acceptable.

Daily painting 19/9/14. Figure more defined here . I am enjoying doing them and the fact that they are half hour paintings is liberating.They are what they are and can be accepted as that. I paint over old paintings repeatedly and have lots to go at. Maybe look back at my children's photos when they were younger. Keep going though and try larger work.

Figures in landscapes

Daily painting 18/9/14. Trying figures in landscapes. Looking at the work of Cathy Hegman, but as always, the work goes it's own way. Well what do I think ? The figure is static, lost in the landscape a little, solitary, calm, a little reflective maybe.I added the newspaper because this was one of the boards that got bashed on the corner last week at the Pop up gallery.

Cathy Hegman's work.

Looking at the work of Cathy Hegman. Georgeous. How to describe it ? Well they are often solitary figures with a calmness and strength about them. They often don't have features and feel like a kind of coloured silhouette, ok that's a contradiction, but they feel like that. Her horizons ( if that's what they are ) are at different levels at each side of he figure.Her tones are dramatic. big tonal changes.

Big Daily painting 17/9/14

Another go at a bigger painting , working up the Daily sketches. This one seems gentle, romantic, dreamy,

Pam's commission re painted.

Had another go at Pam's commission. Like it better. Leave it to rest. I think I will try a few at this size as Daily paintings , have enjoyed it. The marks need somehow to be bolder and bigger when the painting itself is bigger. Obvious really that the scale needs to be altered but I have way got into painting 52 cm sq. So it was a challenge.

Pam's commission

Pam from my Emmaus Upcycling group asked me to paint a larger painting based on a few of my Daily sketches. I have done this one this afternoon, it's 33 inches square , acrylic.I need to let it rest for a couple of days before I decide.i have enjoyed painting the bigger size though, for a change.Sometimes as an excersise, I do paint up my small sketches but they always take on a life of their own so I don't agree to many commissions. I also do them with the understanding that if they don't like the painting then that's fine. 

Daily painting 15/9/14. This is an old painting. I cut an oval of paper for the face then worked on it in pastel.Maybe it needs cropping. It's better than it was though.I don't like chalk pastel but we are looking at them tomorrow's Art group.

Kristin Vangard artist

Looking at the work of Kristin Vangard. Georgeous.

Old paintings

I have a stash of old drawings and paintings. With this one I put down a thin, transparent wash of primer or gesso and drew and painted on top. Today I drew back on it with chalk pastels.This is Daily painting no 169, 14/9/14. I don't like chalk pastels at all but we are working with them in the Art Group this week.

Catch up with the Daily paintings

For sure will paint over this one.

On this one I liked the darkness and the scratching

There will be quite a few with newspaper on one corner. Husband dropped them getting them out of the car and as always they fell on the corners and got bashed !

I liked this one, then didn't like it, then liked it again. Oh dear.

Emmaus Mossley pop up Gallery

Pop up gallery at Emmaus Mossley today. Had a lovely day, lots of visitors and sold a few paintings.i can paint some more pictures now ha ha but I am a few days behind with my Daily paintings but will have a painting day tomorrow.Can't wait. I have this lovely space at Emmaus Mossley and I just wonder why I can't keep it tidy and always looking like this. Try harder.

Display of Daily paintings at Emmaus Mossley

Daily paintings put up at a Emmaus Mossley for the Pop up Gallery tomorrow. Loved it. I put a display up in the Training room and my Glass room. Loved them as well. I noticed I said in the flyers that I o would be demonstrating all day. Better give that some thought tonight.the thing is I am so lucky to have this display space, although maybe if I wanted to buy Art I wouldn't go to Emmaus, I would go to a Gallery.Rethink.

Collage lady cards

Cards made with collage faces and beads/ buttons. Loved them but will anybody else ?

Faces with acrylic and oil pastel

Tried this morning to use oil pastel melted with glazing liquid.I used it on the face and that allowed me to use acrylic paint.It does't work as well though so I went back to liquin half way through. I don't like this one but haven't much time to dwell on it because of the show on Saturday.Try again.

Working towards show next week

Worked on just mounting 20 Daily sketches ready for next week's show at Emmaus. It made me look through the daily sketches to pick out the ones to mount. There are a lot of them that I really like.I mounted them with donated card and it's not big enough for the whole standard sized frame so I split it into 2 , so the one shown has a piece of card top and bottom of the picture, so that the picture goes straight across the frame. I like that.

I also worked on writing more on the mounts. I loved that too. We will see next week if anyone else like it.

Daily painting 7/9/14

It's really interesting to paint and re paint the same faces. They come out different each time.they just go there own way.just carry on. I took about 8 of the painted faces into my Art Group for them to critique them. The reactions, as always , very different but it does seem to affect what I paint. There is usually a stand out favourite and that was the one with , 'fragile, ' written on it. It's strange with the faces because some will never be put up on display - I am more accepting of the landscape work Keep going with enjoyment.

Simple hanger for the daily paintings

Trying to think of a simple way to hang the pictures - I have lots of this sized , about 8 inch sq. Pieces of Mdf, 2 ml thick, I made holes in it with a hammer and nail, threaded strong jute string though and then I can stick them to the back of the Daily paintings for a temporary hang. They need frames of some discription but I just want to sell some at this time, more paint needed !

Daily painting 6/9/14

This one has an acrylic under painting. I liked the warmth that the under painting brought to the piece. I like the scratches in the work. Some of the faces I originally got from the renaissance frescos and although I literally scratched the eyes out of one of the faces because I didn't like them, it did make me think of the cracks that we see in the frescos. Age cracks.We are used to seeing them.

More faces 12 inch sq.

This face is 30 cm sq. It feels much less pressure at this size, so keep to this size or similar until after show next week.Where do the words come from - not sure, but just keep going. Putting a question mark at the end of the word, although grammatically incorrect, helps give another dimension to the pieces. I can research the words after the show, but for the moment they could be interpreted in different ways ie, is there enough paint on the piece from an artists point of new, has the face in the painting had enough ? Of what ? You decide.

Remember these are half hour paintings and I don't always get them right. I don't have to like them all do I ? And when I do like them, I change my mind over time, backwards and forwards, like the wind. he ho.

Ok then - the faces require so much more concentration and if I don't photograph them and publish them as soon as, I fiddle and gaff and ruin them anyway. Remember these are half hour paintings so , for that, they can be forgiven.i have had to abandon daily sketches and daily faces though because I am trying to prepare for a pop up gallery on 13 th September at Emmaus Mossley. That's ok though.

2/9/14

This went through lots of different incarnations before ending up this way.it's ok but I can majorly accept them as what they are - half hour paintings. Think I maybe put some text on but printer broken.

Red head

Daily painting 1/9/14. Red head. They are going stranger and stranger.I don't mind the eyes and I was trying a technique I use a lot in the landscape , ie putting the paint down with card rather than with a brush. I did this on top of the lips which felt ok and the hair. I forget with oils about the drying time. I need to put the oils down very thinly so they dry overnight.

Oily ladies

Tried again to make card sized ladies faces. The last lot , although I liked them, felt more mixed media and crafty. Theses felt more arty.on the whole, they are ok.I like the smudges for lips and hair.I like the quirky, not trying to be so serious faces. Keep going.